Greens candidate for Calare Delanie Sky conceded that she faced a tough audience when promoting Greens policy in Mudgee on the weekend.
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Ms Sky and supporters were at the Makers’ Market on Saturday morning to speak to local voters about the Greens’ policy for transitioning from reliance on fossil fuel to renewable energy.
“A lot of people are under the impression that it’s the Greens’ fault that dirty fossil fuel mines are in trouble,” Ms Sky said.
“But it’s not because of Greens’ policy – it’s market driven.
“We welcome people to come and share their opinions and we are excited that the Greens have a fully costed plan to transition from coal mining to new industries.”
Ms Sky said the Central Western region has the right profile for wind energy and some of the best solar catchments in the country.
The Greens were the only political party which did not accept donations from fossil fuel companies, which receive direct subsidies of $7 billion a year from governments, she said.
“Greens don’t accept any money from fossil fuel, so they can speak the truth.”
Ms Sky said people had come up to her and told her they were voting Green because they are tired of the bickering between the two major political parties.
“We are not only a tree hugging party,” she said.
“We have strong social justice policies and strong policies on health and education.
“I have children and as a welfare worker, I work with children and young people all the time and just want them to have the future they deserve.”
Ms Sky and Greens Senate candidate Michael Osborne met with Wollar residents on Saturday afternoon to discuss their concerns about the impact of mines on residents.
Mr Osborne is an environmental engineer and Newcastle City councillor for 12 years, who has served as Deputy Lord Mayor.
He said that regions which were heavily dependent on mining should follow the example of Newcastle, which began planning six or seven years in advance for the closure of BHP’s iron and steel works.
“All over regional NSW, one of the things people are telling us is that the local economies and local communities are changing and there’s a growing need to the community to grab onto the opportunities that arise,” he said.
“At the moment, we see Labor, Nationals and Liberal MPs are not acting to help rural communities to regain services and not helping regional communities to transition to new industries.
“In the Calare electorate, half a billion dollars has been taken out of frontline services and the health system.
“We want to see full restoration of services needed in regional communities.”
Mr Osborne said the Australia needed to spend more on health and education as an investment for the future.
“If they [the major parties] won’t do it, they need to get out of the way,” he said.